just so everyone's clear, if greece were to abandon the euro currency it would not in any way doom the currency or the future of the eu.it would be like if indiana or minnesota seceded from the u.s. good news story, but in the grand scheme mostly irrelevantspain and italy, on the other hand, would be a problem.

I don't think things other than Greece are going to fall apart quickly but unless there is greater political integration and unless the ECB starts acting as a lender of last resort I don't think the Eurozone can hold.Maybe reading Nouriel Roubini is making me a pessimist

I don't think things other than Greece are going to fall apart quickly but unless there is greater political integration and unless the ECB starts acting as a lender of last resort I don't think the Eurozone can hold.

Nick Papageorgio decides that he's not gonna take the heat for making the big decision so he pussies out and puts it up for a vote and might blow the whole thing. Pussy.

Or alternatively,Why allow Sarkozy and Merkel to dictate policy to Greece--policy which is hugely unpopular among his constituents? Greece is supposed to be a democracy, after all. The referendum will show there is consensus in Greece to abandon the euro.

just so everyone's clear, if greece were to abandon the euro currency it would not in any way doom the currency or the future of the eu.it would be like if indiana or minnesota seceded from the u.s. good news story, but in the grand scheme mostly irrelevantspain and italy, on the other hand, would be a problem.

I don't think there is a way to be really confident about this. Complex financial systems throughout history have been less stable and less understood than the powers that be care to admit. Today's systems are no exception. Will Greece defaulting bring about the end of the debt-based financial world? Probably not. But it might conceivably lead to a chain reaction that dissolves the Euro.

"I am a series of electronic pulses in a vast array of networked silicon lifeforms."

Maybe as this progresses they will realize they have a spending issue, you can't have growth when a socialized government is the largest employer and spender. Maybe some of the well educated here in the US will pull their heads out of the sand and see we need to change our spending as well....nah carry on.

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America 's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America 's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, "the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."~ Senator Barack H. Obama

http://www.businessw...032011-gfx.htmlEurope’s Insult Diplomacy Is it really any wonder that a debt deal has been hard to come by? Is it any wonder that a deal among European Union leaders is hard to come by? Just look at what they say about each other. British Prime Minister David Cameron called French President Nicolas Sarkozy “a hidden dwarf” as part of a joke told to a journalist. German Chancellor Angela Merkel referred to Sarkozy as “Mr. Bean,” while Sarkozy called her “La Boche,” or the Kraut. Spanish Prime Minister José Zapatero is “too pink” because of the high proportion of women in his cabinet, said Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. And Berlusconi’s opinion of the euro? “A disaster,” he said, that has “screwed everybody.” — Compiled by Spencer Bailey